The demand for wall panel equipment after World War II was unprecedented, even to this day. Industrialization was in the air, and factory-built wall panels became the gateway, even before roof trusses. Most of the action was in the affordable housing sector, driven by the mobile home, modular, and especially the prepackaged house manufacturers. And late in the game, by the 1970s, more truss plants joined the fray, as they understood the returns that could be earned by investing in specialized equipment. [For all images, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
The respondents came from all over the map, but one of the earliest was Homasote Company, a wall sheathing provider. In 1951, they introduced an integrated wall panel line, which had been inspired by their own experience during the War building wall panels for government housing. In fact, the government had commandeered all of the production of Homasote sheathing during the War, because it was made from recycled paper products so its production was not curtailed by rationing restrictions. To promote this advantage, Homasote developed a unique 2x2 wall and roof panel, which was sheathed on both faces with their sheathing boards. These lightweight panels were incorporated in the construction of 6000 housing units. Out of this experience came a purpose-built panel line.
This annotated graphic is but one of 45 elaborate drawings of Homasote’s patented panel system. Although the complexity of their approach is daunting, key elements would become essential parts of later systems. Homasote was a decade ahead of other serious entrants, who took a much more measured approach. And one of those stands out from the rest.
Jim Merrick entered the fray when a local mobile home manufacturer asked him to build a machine for fastening window frames together. This led Merrick to apply the technology used in air brakes to the task of driving nails, even before handheld pneumatic tools had been commercialized. Merrick’s rapid nailing tool gave him a leg up on other equipment suppliers, and his hands-on, conservative business approach set him on a steady, incremental approach to equipment development. In the late 1960s, he introduced a steady series of machines that automated the most basic wall framing tasks; stud-stitching, component nailing, and panel stapling. These could be bought one-at-a-time, lowering the initial investment for buyers, but also pointing the way for follow-up purchases. Merrick’s approach garnered the business of some of the most successful, multi-plant operations, including National Homes and Ryan Homes. Nevertheless, during this heyday of panel equipment, they faced multiple competitors from truss plate, component saw, and nail gun businesses.
Shown in the chart [See PDF or View in Full Issue] are the main vendors of the 1960s and 1970s, although many more surfaced. But of all the entrants, few survived. What caused their demise after panelization was presumed to be a “sure-thing” early in the post-War period?
Henry Chambers, who ran the Imperial Components plant in Chicago, foresaw two of the main reasons in 1973, “I don’t think that the actual problem of constructing a wall panel is all that great, if you solve all the other problems ahead of time. Our problems stem from layout. Our layout man has to correct the problems inherent in the architectural drawing. Studs laid out (improperly) for drywall.” In other words, wall panels are relatively easy to build (even with no equipment) and house plans are lousy (and they still are). But software started to help.
Next Month:
A Dash of Software